


Shining on a Rainy Day

by Karios



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Drinking, Fluff and Angst, Implied Sexual Content, Multi, Post-Season/Series 01, Skinny Dipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-09
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-03-02 19:52:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13325316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karios/pseuds/Karios
Summary: The Doctor doesn't leave Jack behind. It changes everything.





	Shining on a Rainy Day

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Settiai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Settiai/gifts).
  * Translation into Русский available: [Сияние в дождливый день](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16421006) by [TheLadyRo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLadyRo/pseuds/TheLadyRo)



> You had several enticing plot suggestions, so I blended a few. 
> 
> Many many thanks to mlraven whose betaing efforts made this a complete draft.
> 
> Any remaining errors are the fault of some last minute edits and should not reflect poorly on my beta.

“I kind of figured that.” Not bad last words, Jack thought.

The next thing he knew was darkness, deep darkness that choked out every thought and sensation, save one. It was the prickle at the back of his neck, or the feeling of eyes on his back, that special kind of paranoia usually reserved for childhood dreams that told everyone that something was coming.

And to run before it caught up.

Then there was light, brilliant, and oppressive, chasing out the darkness as it held him in peace.

Jack gasped and opened his eyes to a blur of color and pain, and someone, calling his name.

"What happened?" Jack said, clutching his head, then his midsection, then patting anywhere he could reach. How was he still in one piece?

"There isn't much time to explain," barked the Doctor, hauling Jack unceremoniously to his feet. The world lurched, even as the Doctor held him upright by one arm, half shoving, half carrying him forward. "You've got to save Rose!”

Jack couldn’t remember ever hearing the Doctor so desperate like this. It was sobering, both literally and figuratively. So by the time they reached Rose, half crumpled against the grating and wailing an inhuman cry, the fog had cleared enough to ask questions.

"What happened to Rose?" he demanded.

"She absorbed the heart of the TARDIS, and no one's meant to do that."

"Heart of the TARDIS," Jack repeated, confused.

"It's burning her alive. All of time and space wasn't meant for a human mind."

"What can I possibly do?"

"I need you to kiss her. Draw it out of her like a poison."

"Why can't you do it?" Jack asked.

"Because I'm not immortal!" snapped the Doctor.

Jack twisted in the Doctor's grip to give the Time Lord a look. Even without a direct telepathic link, it was clear he thought the Doctor had gone crazy. All the same, he dropped to his knees in front of Rose and cradled her face between his hands. Jack firmly pressed his mouth to hers.

The Doctor held his breath as the glow of the TARDIS slowly passed from her into him. Just a little more, he urged mentally. Relief turned to guilt as Jack held on, even as the bolts of pain made his entire body quake. After a handful of heartsbeats that felt like an eternity, Jack broke away.

Jack looked at him, bracing himself on shaky arms that held him up through sheer force of will. A fine sheen of sweat coated his glowing skin. "Was that enough?" he slurred.

"Yeah Jack, you did good. She’ll be just fine. Now let it go."

The Doctor doubted that Jack could have held onto the power even if he’d wanted to. Weak and disoriented as he was it flowed easily out of him and danced its way back into the console.

Jack smiled, his eyes following the blinding light for a moment, before his head lolled backward. The Doctor caught him before the Captain hit the floor.

The Time Lord carried each of his humans to bed, gingerly setting them down in the same room for safekeeping. He dimmed the TARDIS lights and retreated to the console room, keeping one eye on them from there, peering at their sleeping forms until his own exhaustion forced him to claim a snatch of sleep for himself.

When of three of them awoke, Jack and Rose entered the console room hand-in-hand. The sight made the Doctor's hearts twist painfully. Despite everything the Academy had tried to teach him about non-attachment and rising above the carnal urges that drove other species, he was hopelessly smitten with the pair of them. He’d known about his feelings for Rose since 1869, even if it had taken several more near-death experiences to admit it to himself.

Apparently though, he was catching on quicker these days, because he was already sure about Jack.

And why not? They were brave, clever, gorgeous—and not just as exquisite examples of their species, mind you, ape comments aside. All these feelings, and he'd gone and thrown them—literally—into each other's arms. Whatever they'd managed to forget from last night, they had still imprinted on each other like baby ducks fresh from the shell.

It was probably for the best; they had saved each others' lives, after all. There were many worse foundations for love than that. But that didn't mean it hurt any less. The Doctor decided to stay to answer their questions; they deserved that much.

"Morning, sleepyheads," he said, managing a half decent tone of nonchalance.

"Doctor!" Rose seemed half surprised to find him and dropped Jack's hand at once. "How'd we get back to the TARDIS?"

That one was easy enough. "I brought you back here. Both of you."

Jack folded his arms across his chest. "And the Daleks?"

"They could sense the power of the TARDIS within Rose and...scattered." That was close enough to the truth. He couldn't bear to tell Rose she may have very well committed genocide. Not even to Daleks. She shouldn't have to live with that too.

“I contained the power of TARDIS?” Rose asked, and he was glad she had picked that to focus on.

“After you came back—wait, do you remember opening the TARDIS, coming back here?”

Rose let out out a soft gasp. “Y-you sent me away. After you promised. You went and sent me away.”

“I had to keep you safe.” The Doctor couldn't help the pleading note that crept into his voice, but Rose didn't seem to notice.

“You thought you were gonna die! That Jack was gonna die. All those other people-” she broke off realising.

“They did die, Rose. Every last one in the station.” The Doctor's voice was pained. “I couldn't let you. Not if I could help it.”

“I'm not more important,” she insisted. Tears shone in her eyes. Survivor’s guilt, now another thing they had in common.

“You are to me!” shouted the Doctor. Rose openly flinched at the harsh tone in his voice, then turned and fled the console room without another word, the first of her sobs reverberating off the metal panels in the corridor.

“You should go after her,” the Doctor advised Jack.

“Funny because I was just about to suggest the same thing,” retorted Jack, before folding his arms across his chest and letting out a long sigh. “Do you always miss the painfully obvious?”

“She loves _you_ ,” replied the Doctor.

“You’re an idiot. And I'm not done here.”

The Doctor gave him a kind of one-armed shrug. A suit yourself kind of gesture.

"I was...shot. I remember being shot," Jack said. "How am I not dead?"

"Rose saved you. Brought you back, permanently, made you a fixed point in time."

“What do you mean, permanently?”

“You’re immortal, Jack Harkness. I don't know how immortal.” The Doctor had the decency to look apologetic at that. “Could be five more deaths, or eleven. Thousands. Millions. No way to tell anything for sure, except you’re sticking around for awhile.”

Jack let out a low whistle. “How do you know that much?”

“For starters, you're not dead, and for two, you were able to save Rose. Drew the TARDIS right out of her head and back to the console. I couldn't have done that without dying.”

“One last question,” Jack began, “Did you know I’d be able to do whatever it was I did?”

“Not exactly,” the Doctor hedged. “But, had you failed, I would have...cut in. I wouldn't have let her die, no matter what.”

Jack didn't know what to make of this assertion he was supposedly immortal, but clearly his own complicated feelings would have to wait. They’d agreed to saving Rose and they had, and apparently she’d managed to somehow save them in return. The three of them were safe, and that was all that mattered to him. He turned and followed the path Rose had taken, grateful that she hadn't fled far before flinging herself on a bed.

Jack leaned against the jamb. “Rose, can I come in?”

Her reply was muffled by the pillow she had buried her face in, but still clear. “No.”

Jack clenched and unclenched his jaw, and turned so he could be seen if Rose bothered to look up. “Fine. I'll speak my piece from here. I’ve not been kicking around this box or the Doctor all that long; two months, if that.”

He paused, waiting for a correction or acknowledgement. It didn’t come.

“I don't know the Doctor even half as well as you do, but I know he would have given anything to put everyone on that game station back at home.”

“Yeah well, he didn't. Instead he saved me, and all those other people...” she trailed off, as fresh tears fell.

Jack refused to let her feel sorry for herself. “You know what his plan had been? Mayhem. Kill everything; not just the Daleks, not just the station. He would have killed the entire planet.”

“What?” Rose choked out.

“It was that, or watch and wait as the Dalek fleets took them out city by city. He wasn't just saving _you_ , Rose, he was sparing himself an audience.”

Rose was staring at him now, a shade paler, her mouth slightly ajar.

“I...” she floundered for words for a moment before settling for action instead, hopping off the bed and throwing herself into Jack’s arms.

He drew her tight against his chest, the last of her tears soaking into the fabric of his shirt front.

“I'm angry about it too.” The Doctor's gruff voice interrupted their embrace. “But we’re all still here, so we need to focus on that.”

“What do you suggest?” Jack asked.

“I know a quiet place for a walk." The Doctor slid his hands into his pockets. "No adventure, no danger, just somewhere I go to think.”

* * *

 

The world outside the TARDIS was lush, damp, and dark. Rose heard the way the ground squelched under her trainers, and the air was musky, like a faint whiff of coffee and a large dose of lawn clippings. By the time they were a handful of metres away from the TARDIS, Rose couldn’t see past her nose. Apparently already aware of the problem, one leather-clad arm slipped around to take hers. Jack wordlessly wrapped his arm around her right side. For a split second she wanted to rekindle her earlier anger and protest, but she trusted them, even to lead her blindly forward into the dark.

“This planet holds something for each of us,” murmured the Doctor in what, if she hadn't known better, might have sounded like a seductive tone. “First up, for Rose, an alien world with an alien sea.”

“I can't _see_ anything!” she protested, unable to resist the pun.

“Patience,” he said, breath ghosting over her ear. She shivered, though the night was warm. “It’s cloudy tonight.”

Rose had been about to ask why he hadn't chosen a clearer night, when a large full moon broke through the cloud cover, bathing all three of them in silver light. She looked between her men, still coiled around her arms, and decided no sea could possibly compare.

In spite of Rose’s convictions, the planet put up a fight for her admiration. The cliff face was powder purple and cut to sparkle in the moonbeams. The water itself was a bright shimmering pink, distinctive even in the low light. It was the colour-scheme of her bedroom back on the Estate, mapped onto an unspoiled bluff. It was beautiful, and knowing their luck, probably deadly.  
  
“It's safe to ingest, and on skin,” the Doctor answered Rose’s unspoken question. “Can I interest you two a moonlight swim?”

Rose nodded enthusiastically. “I'm game.”

“What's the catch?” Jack wondered aloud as he disentangled himself from Rose’s arm, and began to strip down.

Much to her surprise, the Doctor proceeded to do the same on her left. “Well there is one thing about the water,” he said, “it eats fabrics.”

“We’re swimming starkers?” Rose struggled to keep the surprise out of her voice.

“The two of you without a stitch on. Must be this planet’s present to me!” Jack grinned and his teeth gleamed even in the low light.

“If that's alright?” The Doctor’s voice had faded from his earlier sexy confidence to something shyer. The moon illuminated the clearing enough for her to see his face, brimming with concern.

“More than,” answered Rose, crossing her arms and pulling her t-shirt over her head.

“Yeah?” he checked, his eyes staring into hers.

“Yeah,” she confirmed, smiling back at him. She had just taken a step forward, intent on saying just how okay she was with the idea, when Jack let out a loud whoop and jumped into the water below, effectively breaking the spell.

Smiling at Jack’s antics, Rose wasn't even that disappointed. “Come on then, let's check out that water,” said Rose.

They dove and swum and splashed each other, stealing glances--discreetly for some, less so for one Jack Harkness--at what they could see through the bright water.

The activity melted away the physical tension, and the laughter dissolved the dark emotional clouds, even as the moon was swallowed up by literal ones. Rose had shifted to floating on her back, breasts up, too at peace to care about what the boys could see.

“Hey, Doc?” Jack inquired, kicking his feet idly.

“Hm?”

“If the view is for Rose, and the full moon is for me,” Rose groaned at Jack’s terrible joke, but he was undeterred, “what's this planet hold for you? Something for each of us, you said.”

Now the Doctor had both Jack and Rose’s full attention.

“It’s going to rain tonight,” he commented blandly, with a grin that invited more questions.

Jack and Rose shared a look, both of them wanting to deny the Doctor the satisfaction of asking, but secretly burning with curiosity.

Rose caved first. “Alright, what's so special about the rain?”

“It’s mildly intoxicating. Only for me,” he clarified quickly. “I wanted a good stiff drink after last night, and there's so few alcohols for my superior biology.”

Rose snorted. In the context, thinking too hard about his ‘superior biology’ could make her as pink as the water.

Misinterpreting her reaction, the Doctor spoke up again. “If you're feeling left out, Rose, I could pop back to the TARDIS for champagne.”

“Ahead of you, Doctor.” From seemingly nowhere Jack produced a flask and took a long pull. Rose tried not to think too hard about where it might have been stashed. Damn the both of them.

Rose refused both offers at once. “I think one of us should keep a clear head.”

“Good thinking,” complimented the Doctor. “Just promise me you’ll take full advantage of the lack of mine.”

Rose’s mouth dropped open. Was he asking what she thought he was asking? As though it had been waiting for its cue, the rain began to fall, adding a citrusy scent to the air. The Doctor and Jack closed the distance encircling Rose. Jack kissed the gobsmacked expression off of Rose’s face. “Don’t take too long, Rosie. Otherwise, I’m stealing your dance partner.”

Rose grinned and then splashed Jack with a practiced arc to the face. “Don’t rush me.”

She spun away from Jack’s pouting expression and landed squarely against the Doctor’s chest, she let out a light squeak in surprise at the contact. “Hello,” he said, trailing one wet finger down the bridge of her nose.

Rose swallowed hard. How could such a simple touch be so electric?

“That’s my line,” huffed Jack in faux-offense.

“I know. We happen to have the same taste,” the Doctor said,smiling widely. His finger moved down to trace each of her lips, leaving them wet and glossy. “May I?”

She nodded, and the Doctor captured her face in his hands, pressing his mouth to hers for the longest kiss of her life.

When they broke apart, Rose wanted to say something profound, but what came out instead was, “You taste nothing like Jack.”

The Doctor chuckled, a warm rumble that seemed to reverberate through Rose like being too close to speakers or exploding firecrackers. “We don't? As a man of science, I'll need a replication study.”

With a wink, he paddled past Rose to Jack, and kissed the young man with equal fervor.

“About time,” teased Jack with a waggle of his eyebrows before stealing a second kiss.

Rose applauded. “Change of venue anyone?”

“I may suggest the TARDIS has several good beds, might be easier to experiment where we can focus on pleasure, rather than staying afloat.” Jack ran a hand along the Doctor’s thigh.

The Time Lord gulped. “Sounds fine to me.”

Barring a quick stop to grab their discarded clothing, they ran the rest of the way there.

The luxurious round bed proved useful for a number of activities, including a lie-in for a cranky Time Lord who hadn't nursed a hangover in several decades.


End file.
